Something Seems Suspicious
Could it be...
Was this child really just an accident?
Not because someone was playing a prank...
The man took a few steps toward the child.
Besides this child...
Were there any other children nearby?
The man's face twitched slightly.
He really had spotted a suspicious-looking... child.
The child crouched low, poking his head out to peek into the alley.
"...What are you doing?"
The child was so focused that the man had been standing behind him for quite a while, and the child hadn't noticed him at all.
There was no helping it.
The man spoke up.
What was this child looking at?
The man leaned forward.
He looked into the alley.
"Ah!"
The child cried out in surprise.
The unexpected voice had obviously startled him.
The man looked away.
He took a step back.
The child turned around and stared at the strange man in front of him, uncertain and alarmed.
"Who are you?!"
The man smiled kindly.
"Hello."
"I'm not a bad person."
"I just saw you peeking into the alley... and got a little curious..."
"What are you looking at?"
The child frowned as he sized up the disheveled man.
"...You seem suspicious."
"Bad people wouldn't say they were bad people, either..."
Uh...
The man was left speechless.
That...
Wasn't wrong.
But...
"I'm really not a bad person."
The man looked innocent.
"If you don't feel safe, we can keep our distance."
The child glanced at the distance between himself and the strange man, then took another big step back.
Half his body was already in the alley.
The man couldn't help reminding him, "If you really did run into a bad person, wouldn't you be doing exactly what they wanted